Thin booklets and other thin bound matter such as periodicals, catalogs and the like, along with single sheet documents are notoriously inconvenient to file due to their tendency to curl and bend when left to stand upright or when they are inserted in suspension folders.
In addition, because majority of thin booklets lack spines, it is impossible to directly imprint their titles or other identification marks which can be readily visible when the booklets are stacked or filed.
A common way to file thin booklets and documents is to puncture a row of holes along the document edge and to file the booklets directly inside a ring binder.
However, it is often desirable to store booklets in suspension type drawers for easy reference and proximity to other reference materials.
Several schemes have been proposed for filing the documents directly in a suspension-type drawer, whereby special hanging hardware interfaces with the holes made in a document for the purpose (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,865,445, 4,420,086, 4,722,626). The necessity of having holes in the document limits utility of these devices, especially if the holes are not provided in the original document. Moreover, the presence of holes along the edge of a document frequently causes problems during copying, such as jamming of an automatic feed mechanism of a copier machine so equipped, or telltale hole images, often objectionable, appearing on a copy.
If holes in booklets are not feasible or desirable, various alternative schemes to file booklets have also been proposed. Majority of such schemes employ a bar, usually spring-loaded, which is inserted in the spine of the booklet, with booklet usually hanged in a special structure (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,233,687, 2,323,123, 4,624,480, 4,645,237, 4,681,232). Unfortunately, most of these suspension devices require complicated suspension hardware to interface with filing systems. Furthermore, for relatively inexpensive booklets or documents, majority of which have short useful life, these suspension devices are of limited utility due to their cost.